February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
A DRINK WITH SHANE MACGOWAN
Shane MacGowan and
Victoria Mary Clarke
Oh, Shane! This book is a sort of autobiography, sort of memoir, as hard to classify as the perpetually drunk singer-songwriter-poet himself. It is constructed in eight "acts" and takes place as a series of conversations between Shane and his long-term partner, journalist Victoria Clarke, who knew Shane when they were children. The conversations ramble along, interspersed with Clarke’s amusing "stage directions. A crazy, rollicking booze-fueled read. Grove Press. 360 pp. $14.
WAY OUT YONDER
Andy Irvine
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Well known as a member of the legendary groups Planxty, Sweeney’s Men and Patrick Street, Andy Irvine has only rarely released solo albums. "Way Out Yonder" is his latest offering, and its nine tracks roam over the personal and the political.
Irvine’s mellow voice blends well with mandolin, harmonica and bouzouki, reflecting his years of touring as a street musician in Europe. Appleseed Recordings.
IRELAND’S NATIONAL THEATERS
Mary Trotter
Ireland’s contribution to the world of the stage has been massive, not least from the Abbey Theatre. This book looks at the Abbey’s history but sets it in the context of the Irish theatrical world of the 1900s, thus "national" in the title is used in the political sense, and Trotter shows how the various theater groups used the stage for anticolonial purposes — defying British stereotypes, martyrdom rhetoric and the special role the theater played in nation building. Yeats, Lady Gregory and J.M. Synge are given prominence. Syracuse University Press. 232 pp. $19.95.
A HISTORY OF IRELAND
Mike Cronin
A History of Ireland in just over 280 pages? From the 12th Century to the Good Friday agreement, this slim volume has been described as "lucid and lively" and "a fascinating glimpse." What it lacks in breadth, the book makes up for by focusing in on the key events that have shaped Irish destinies: Christianity, the English, 1690, the Famine and emigration, 1916, and the Troubles. In this respect, Cronin deals with each event trenchantly. Palgrave for St. Martin’s Press. 288 pp. $26.95.